Bailey's Point of View:
The airplane ride was short, good thing, because Cody had to vomit three times on the trip, once before we even took off. But once we landed, Cody began to become more relaxed, but still pale. I felt worried. Luckily, the trip was short, and we arrived just at two o'clock.
After the long car ride, Audra was the first to jump out.
"Yay! We're here!" She exclaimed. She ran around in a small circle, tripped, and then fell face first to the snow.
"You're so clumsy, Audra!" Nadine scolded as she helped her sister up.
Nadine carried Joshua from the car seat, and put him securely in the soft snow. And with that, Nadine ran off after her eager sister.
"Are you okay, Cody?" I asked. Cody came out of the car, coughing.
"Fine." He cleared his throat, and took a deep breath. "Car sick, that's all."
I put a reassuring hand on his arm. "Come on."
Over time, Cody seemed to regain his natural colour, instead of a chalk-white paleness. We walked through the empty corn fields, while looking out for Joshua, who was strolling slowly in a straight line, almost like a walking bundle, since he was layered with warm clothes.
Nadine and Audra seemed to now have a snow ball fight, chasing after each other and aiming each other's coats and hats.
I sighed in happiness. It was so good to be back at home.
Cody slid his hand into mine.
"Look at that." He pointed to the broken sign that barely read my family name.
"What about it?"
"About 10 years ago, I ran right down this path, and I remember stopping right here at this sign. I made the second most important life decision ever. To get you back." He gave me a gentle smile.
"And what was the first?"
"Marrying you."
I smiled back, knowing too well that my cheeks were turning red.
Even now, Cody still made me blush.
We trotted up towards the farm. Audra and Nadine had calmed down, and seemed to be admiring their surroundings.
"This is so cool! Did you really grow up here Mommy?"
"Mmhmm." I answered.
"Bailey? Cody?"
I turned to see my parents.
"Mom! Dad!" I exclaimed. I ran over and hugged them. "Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!"
"Oh, you too!" Mom cried.
Nadine and Audra automatically became shy. They hid out behind Cody's legs, each peeking out.
"Mom, Dad, meet Audra, and Nadine."
Cody bent down and gave a light push towards their grandparents. Slowly, they approached them. My parents hugged and squealed. They were so happy, to finally meet their granddaughters. I picked up Joshua, who was getting tired from all that walking, and gave it to my mom, who cooed them inside.
"Aww...finally my parents get to see them." I said.
"Too bad it couldn't be sooner." He put his arm around me, as if he was mad at himself for this.
"It's not your fault." I assured him.
Audra's Point of View:
I waited for the clock to turn 11pm.
Almost...almost...YES!
I bolted upright from the bed and woke my sister up.
"Come on!" I tugged her.
"What?" She opened her eyes.
"Let's go downstairs! Now that they think we're asleep, we won't have to worry too much on getting in trouble."
"Why?"
"Hello? We have to have some sort of fun can't we?"
"Why not tomorrow?" she groaned.
"No way. I'm not sleeping on that hard wooden bed unless I have to."
I tugged on her harder. "Let's spy on them."
Nadine gave me an annoyed look. "They're just talking about business and stocks. As much as that interests me, I don't want to stay up all night listening to that."
"Okay, good point. But I also want to check out the house. We didn't get to see too much of it today."
"Why do you even care?"
"I want to see the house Mommy grew up in. Don't you?"
Nadine seemed to consider this, and sat up. "Fine. But only for a bit. I want to wake up early tomorrow."
I glared at her. "Yeah, that's really fun. Why don't we spy on them while they're asleep!" I viciously whispered.
Nadine sighed, but didn't reply back.
We crept downstairs, and entered the long hallway. It was filled with pictures of all of our aunts and uncles, from young to the present. It even included some black and white pictures of our grandparents wedding. It was really nice, painted with a sky-blue background to compliment the wooden frames.
"Wow, didn't Mom say she had, like nine sisters? How can I remember them all?"
And of course, Nadine took this time to show off.
"Aunt Bobbi, Kenzie, Cassidy, Kaylie, Sydney, May, Sarah, and Beth." Nadine pointed to the portraits and named them with ease.
I stared at her in disbelief.
"I…think…" she added, scratching her head in confusion.
"Well at least I know one portrait." I examined the picture "Hey, I never knew Mom's original hair colour was brown." I realized, staring at a picture of her. I think she was around our age, maybe older.
"I wonder why she dyed it blonde."
"I don't know. But I think I like her blonde than a brunette." I concluded, and the topic was dropped.
Overall, the house was quiet; the only sounds were murmurs in the distance. The living room came to view, where they were sitting, so I ducked behind the wall, motioning Nadine to do the same.
"I still don't get this." She whispered. I shushed her.
"Listen."
"...Audra and Nadine are mainly raised by Tiffany, their nanny. It's so rare that we can spend time with them. I really feel bad about that. I mean, I grew up with a stay at home mother, but they're not going to have the same experience…" Mom bit her lip.
"She's talking about us." Nadine spoke, being Captain Obvious, as usual.
Big sisters. They think they know everything.
The conversation went on, talking about us, Joshua, the adoption, then finally to business, and then back to the past, and...
"As much as I don't want to admit it, but you're right. It is pretty boring."
For the first time, Nadine didn't respond with an I told you! look. Instead, she seemed to be deep in thought.
"Paris, Boston, Kettlecorn."
"What about it?"
"We had travelled to all of them, haven't we?" Nadine asked.
"So?"
"Is there something similar between them?"
I shrugged. "Guess not."
"No, there is." Nadine took a long look at our parents. Daddy was talking quietly, with a grin on his face, and his arm around Mom, about the business success while she was waiting patiently, smiling. Nadine pointed to them. "You see?"
"Yeah, I can see. Not the one with the 20/20 vision, but I can see. What's so strange about that?"
"How rare do our parents act like that?"
Again, I shrugged. "So? Couples always put their arms around each other."
Nadine gave me an exasperated look. "No, that's not it."
She motioned me back, so we were out of the view.
"Paris, Boston, and Kettlecorn. These cities have some sort of symbolism, because whenever we travel there, they always act so...you know..." She gestured with her hands, not wanting to continue.
Unfortunately, I did know what she was going to say next.
I wanted to gag. "Please don't tell me we're talking about this."
"Just a question." And then Nadine gave me an innocent look.
"Okay, Paris was where they got engaged, Boston was where they got married. There's the symbolism." I rolled my eyes.
How could she not know that?
"Kettlecorn?"
"I don't know. It was where Mom grew up, I guess."
"No, I'm pretty sure there's more than that."
I sighed. "Not everything has to be so complicated, Nadine."
"I...I guess you have a point there."
We began to tour around the old house, but realized it made too much creaking and noise, so we went back to sleep.
Even so, it did kind of bother me that Nadine was right about something.
Maybe Kettlecorn had more meaning than just Mom's hometown.
To be continued...
